Fowler joined the Army from his birth city of Wichita Falls, Texas, and by May 23, 1944 was serving as a Second Lieutenant in the 191st Tank Battalion. On that day, he led a combined armor-infantry attack near Carano in the Anzio Beachhead Italy. Eleven days later, Lieutenant Fowler was killed in action. He was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor on October 28, 1944, for his actions during the battle near Carano.

Thomas Weldon Fowler, aged 22 at his death, was buried in Crestview Memorial Park in his hometown of Wichita Falls, Texas,[2] where American Legion Post 169 is named in his honor.